Clinch heel and toe plate



y 2, 1969 w. L. MILLS 3,456,367

CLINCH HEEL AND TOE PLATE Filed Jan. 5, 1968 FIG. .1. PIC-F. 2.

INVENTOR.

1/1/422EA/ .4. M/L LS,

4 T roe/v5 vs I United States Patent 0.

3,456,367 CLINCH HEEL AND TOE PLATE Warren L. Mills, 5742 Maryland Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637 Filed Jan. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 696,033 Int. Cl. A43b 13/22 US. Cl. 36-74 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoe reinforcing plate consisting of a fiat metal body having pointed downwardly struck prongs engageable in a portion of a shoe subject to heavy wear. Between the prongs the flat body has an aperture with opposing notched lugs located so as to engage with the grooved neck of a fastening nail driven through the aperture. The lugs are relatively thin as compared to the body so that clearance space is provided beneath the lugs and so that the lugs are deformed downwardly when the nail is driven, whereby the head of the nail will be substantially flush with the fiat body after it is driven.

This invention relates to shoe-protective devices, and more particularly to a metal reinforcing and protecting device adapted to be attached to a portion of a shoe subject to heavy wear.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved metal heel and toe plate adapted to be attached to a portion of a shoe subject to heavy wear,

whereby to reinforce said portion and to extend its useful life, the improved plate being relatively simple in construction, being very easy to attach to a shoe, requiring only one nail to secure same to the shoe, and being so arranged so that it may be attached to the extreme tip of a shoe sole, if so desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved metal Wear plate for attachment to the heel portion, the sole portion, or any other desired wearing portion of a shoe, the improved wear plate being very inexpensive to fabricate, being easily attachable to a wide range of dilferent types of soles and heels, including those made of rubber or sponge-like materials, requiring the use of a very small nail to attach same so that the shoe to which the wear plate is attached is not damaged by the driving of the nail, and being so arranged that the plate is securely held in place after being fastened.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a bottom plan view of a shoe-protective device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the shoe-protective device of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the shoeproteotive device of FIGURES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken longitudinally through the sole portion of a shoe provided with a protective device such as that illustrated in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of a modified form of shoe protective device according to the present invention.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the shoe-protective device of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view of the shoe-protective device of FIGURES 5 and 6.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 4, but showing the shoeprotective device of FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 installed on the front tip of a shoe sole.

3,456,367 Patented July 22, 1969 FIGURE 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view taken substantially on the line 9-9 of FIGURE 8.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGURES 1 to 4, 11 generally designates one form of shoe-protective device constructed in accordance with the present invention. The device 11 comprises an arcuate fiat plate-like metal body 12 having a convex forward edge 13 and a concave rear edge 14. The opposite end portions of the flat metal body 12 are integrally-formed with prong elements 15, 15, for example, by being struck outwardly from the body, said prong elements being triangular in shape and being provided with sharp outer points 16. As shown in FIGURE 2, the integral prong elements 15 are inclined forwardly, namely, in the direction of the convex forward edge 13 of the body 12, said prong elements extending substantially transverse to the body 12, namely, being normally perpendicular to the plane of said body. However, as shown in FIGURE 2, the side edges of the triangular prongs 15 are inclined in the direction of the front edge 13 of the plate-like body 12, namely, upwardly and to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 2.

The body 12 is formed adjacent the mid-portion of the convex forward edge 13 with a nail-receiving aperture 17 adapted to receive a small fastening nail 18 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 4. Thus, in attaching the device 11 to a desired portion of a shoe, for example, to the forward tip portion 19 of the sole 20 of a shoe 21, the plate-like body 12 is first secured to the sole 20 by pressing it against the sole, whereby the prongs 15 penetrate therein, the body 12 being arranged so that the edge 13 thereof is located closely adjacent to or substantially flush with the front edge of the sole tip 19. When the body 12 has been pressed against the sole in any suitable manner, for example, by hammering thereon, or by exerting firm pressure thereagainst, so that the body is in contact with the sole, the fastening nail 18 is driven through the aperture 17 and is directed downwardly and rearwardly, namely, is driven with an inclination opposite to the inclination of the parallel prongs 15, as is clearly illustrated in FIGURE 4, whereby, after being thus driven, the nail 18 cooperates with the prongs 15 to provide a wedging action with respect to the material of the sole 20. This serves to firmly secure the plate-like body 12 to the shoe sole 20, whereby said body 12 acts as a wear-absorbing means to prevent wear of the sole.

Obviously, the device 11 may be employed with equal effect on the heel of the shoe, or at any other desired location.

Referring now to FIGURES 5 to 9, another form of shoe-protective device is designated generally at 31, said device comprising an arcuate flat plate-like metal body 12' formed with down-struck prongs 15, 15 of triangular shape and directed in the same manner as in the previously-described form of the invention, namely, toward the convex front edge 13' of the plate-like body 12'. The body 12' is formed adjacent the mid-portion of the concave forward edge 13' thereof with a nail-receiving aperture 17 and is further formed at said aperture with integral upwardlyinclined opposing nail-locking lugs 32, 32 located at opposite sides of the aperture.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the locking lugs 32, 32 are struck upwardly and are upwardly-inclined toward each other, the lugs being formed with opposing arcuate notches 33 engageable around the neck portion of a fastening nail 34. The locking lugs 32 are preferably of lesser thickness than the metal body 12' and are offset upwardly from the bottom plane of said metal body whereby to provide clearance spaces 35, 35 therebeneath so that said locking lugs are deformable downwardly by the head portion 36 of the nail 34 when the nail is driven through the aperture 17 with the notches 33 engaging the reduced neck portion 37 of the nail 34. As is illustrated in FIGURE 9, when the head of the nail is driven downwardly against the lugs 32, 32 the head is thereby allowed to depress the lugs sufiiciently so that the head will be eventually substantially flush with the outside surface of the plate-like body 12, as is illustrated in FIGURE 9.

The device 31 is attached to a shoe in substantially the same manner as the device 11 previously-described, for example, may be attached to the tip portion 19 of a shoe sole 20 with the convex forward edge 13' of the plate-like body 12 closely adjacent to or substantially flush with the forward edge of the sole tip 19. The nail 34 is driven in an inclined direction opposing the inclination of the prongs 15, described previously in connection with the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4, so that the nail 34 cooperates with the prongs 15 to provide a wedging action with respect to the material of the sole 20. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 8, the nail 34 is inclined downwardly and to the left, whereas the prongs 15 are inclined downwardly and to the right.

It will be further noted that when the lugs 32, 32 are deformed downwardly in the manner illustrated in FIG- URE 9, the lugs rotate inwardly sufiiciently so that the notches 33 tightly grip the neck portion 37 of the nail, whereby the nail is firmly-clamped to the plate-like body 12 by the act of driving the nail into the material of the shoe. The shank portion of the nail 34 is tapered to facilitate the movements thereof past the notches 33, 33 as the nail is being driven, the notches 33, 33 eventually slipping into the neck portion 37 of the nail as the head of the nail is driven downwardly to the position thereof shown in FIGURE 9.

While certain specific embodiments of an improved shoe-protective device have been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe-protective device comprising an arcuate flat plate-like metal body having a convex forward edge and a concave rear edge, and respective pointed transverse depending prong elements integrally-formed on the opposite end portions of the body, said prong elements being substantially parallel to each other and being inclined toward the convex forward edge of the body, said body being formed adjacent the mid-portion of said convex forward edge with an aperture adapted to receive a fastening nail, wherein said prong elements are substantially triangular in shape, wherein said prong elements are struck outwardly from said plate-like metal body, wherein said body is integrally formed with upwardly-inclined opposing naillocking lugs at the opposite sides of said aperture, wherein said locking lugs are formed with opposing notches engageable around the neck portion of the fastening nail when the nail is driven through the aperture, and wherein said locking lugs are provided with clearance spaces therebeneath and are deformable downwardly under the head of the nail when the nail is driven through the aperture whereby the head of the nail will be substantially flush with the plate-like main body after being driven.

2. The shoe-protective device of claim 1, and a headed fastening nail engaged through said aperture and having a reduced neck portion under its head receiving the edges of the locking lugs.

3. The shoe-protective device of claim 2, and wherein the locking lugs are formed with notches receiving and engaging said reduced neck portion.

4. The shoe-protective device of claim 2, wherein the shank portion of the nail is tapered downwardly from the region of said neck portion.

5. The shoe-protective device of claim 1, and wherein said locking lugs are of lesser thickness than the metal body and are upwardly offset from the bottom of said metal body, so as to provide said clearance spaces therebeneath.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 500,844 7/1893 Beazell -10 X 1,079,050 11/1913 Hunold 3674 1,297,434 3/1919 Becherer 36-74 1,310,050 7/1919 Betts 36-74 2,230,916 2/1941 Tinnerman 8536 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,721 1889 Great Britain. 3,729 1905 Great Britain. 537,291 4/ 1922 France.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner 

